South Wales based

[danhfromwales]

Hey all, I'm Dan from South Wales and started fishing roughly 3 years ago. Wish I had gotten into fishing a lot sooner. My current PB for carp is 14 lbs and hoping to hit the 20 lbs mark this summer.

[mrmud]

Welcome along fella. No doubt you'll be smashing that PB soon with the wealth of knowledge on here.

Tight lines

[salokcinnodrog]

9 hours ago, danhfromwales said:

Hey all, I'm Dan from South Wales and started fishing roughly 3 years ago. Wish I had gotten into fishing a lot sooner. My current PB for carp is 14 lbs and hoping to hit the 20 lbs mark this summer.

Welcome to carp.com.

Enjoy your fishing, but go through life remembering that catching 20lb (or even 30lb) carp is a lot easier than catching specimen fish of other species.

Take your fishing as it comes, enjoy it, learn from it.

 

 

[danhfromwales]

7 hours ago, mrmud said:

Welcome along fella. No doubt you'll be smashing that PB soon with the wealth of knowledge on here.

Tight lines

Thank you, and I can tell already this forum is brimmed with info.

[danhfromwales]

30 minutes ago, salokcinnodrog said:

Welcome to carp.com.

Enjoy your fishing, but go through life remembering that catching 20lb (or even 30lb) carp is a lot easier than catching specimen fish of other species.

Take your fishing as it comes, enjoy it, learn from it.

 

 

Thank you. I caught the bug with carp and love all aspects of fishing. Your certainly right when it comes to other species.

[salokcinnodrog]

4 hours ago, danhfromwales said:

Thank you. I caught the bug with carp and love all aspects of fishing. Your certainly right when it comes to other species.

Such a refreshing attitude, purist even.

I've had a few specimens of various species, but the two I really want are barbel and perch. My son when he was 10 or so has probably caught a bigger perch than me, and I gave him 2lb, but I look back at the pics and think I robbed him. I made sure he carried scales in his tackle from then on. 

 

[danhfromwales]

9 minutes ago, salokcinnodrog said:

Such a refreshing attitude, purist even.

I've had a few specimens of various species, but the two I really want are barbel and perch. My son when he was 10 or so has probably caught a bigger perch than me, and I gave him 2lb, but I look back at the pics and think I robbed him. I made sure he carried scales in his tackle from then on. 

 

Such a mixed feeling when you know you have a PB but sods law forget the scales.

Im hoping to catch more Perch this winter on the lure / jigging on a light spinning rod set up.

I had the pleasure of banking my 1st barbel last year on the Wye and what an experience seeing that quiver tip bend around and the fight they put up, fantastic fish!

[mrmud]

1 hour ago, salokcinnodrog said:

I've had a few specimens of various species, but the two I really want are barbel and perch.

Took the kids on holiday in a caravan about 10yrs ago and managed to catch a 4lb perch on a tiddler perch. The greedy git wasn't even hooked just wouldn't let go of the little perch lol

1 hour ago, salokcinnodrog said:

 

 

1 hour ago, danhfromwales said:

Had the pleasure of banking my 1st barbel last year on the Wye and what an experience seeing that quiver tip bend around and the fight they put up, fantastic fish!

I'd really like to catch a barbel or few(never caught one). Don't even have to be monsters lol. They're amazing fish.

Edited April 11 by salokcinnodrog
To remove censored.

[framey]

2 hours ago, danhfromwales said:

Such a mixed feeling when you know you have a PB but sods law forget the scales.

Im hoping to catch more Perch this winter on the lure / jigging on a light spinning rod set up.

I had the pleasure of banking my 1st barbel last year on the Wye and what an experience seeing that quiver tip bend around and the fight they put up, fantastic fish!

Pound for pound they knock spots of carp lol

imagine a 40lb barbel lol

[danhfromwales]

6 hours ago, mrmud said:

Took the kids on holiday in a caravan about 10yrs ago and managed to catch a 4lb perch on a tiddler perch. The greedy git wasn't even hooked just wouldn't let go of the little perch lol

 

I'd really like to catch a barbel or few(never caught one). Don't even have to be monsters lol. They're amazing fish.

Ive heard many similar stories especially with pike.

[mrmud]

1 hour ago, danhfromwales said:

Ive heard many similar stories especially with pike.

Only had a few sessions for pike on lures but prefer the fish without teeth. Well big sharp teeth anyway as carp do have teeth 

[salokcinnodrog]

4 hours ago, mrmud said:

Only had a few sessions for pike on lures but prefer the fish without teeth. Well big sharp teeth anyway as carp do have teeth 

Pike are probably one of my favourite species.

The teeth are no problem if you know how to unhook them.

 

13 hours ago, mrmud said:

Took the kids on holiday in a caravan about 10yrs ago and managed to catch a 4lb perch on a tiddler perch. The greedy git wasn't even hooked just wouldn't let go of the little perch lol

 

I'd really like to catch a barbel or few(never caught one). Don't even have to be monsters lol. They're amazing fish.

I've never had a barbel, and living in Suffolk the chance of finding one is extremely hard.

I did spend some time on the Norfolk Wensum after I saw a couple but they have disappeared again, and I don't have the time to chase a tiny shoal up and down a 4mile stretch.

[mrmud]

3 hours ago, salokcinnodrog said:

Pike are probably one of my favourite species.

The teeth are no problem if you know how to unhook them.

They are a nice fish, alot nicer in the water lol. They almost look prehistoric if you ask me.

I'm getting the hang of it. It's also alot easier with the barbs crushed. 10.50lb was my last one. 

3 hours ago, salokcinnodrog said:

never had a barbel, and living in Suffolk the chance of finding one is extremely hard.

That's the problem I have. There none around locally. Shame really

[salokcinnodrog]

3 hours ago, mrmud said:

They are a nice fish, alot nicer in the water lol. They almost look prehistoric if you ask me.

I'm getting the hang of it. It's also alot easier with the barbs crushed. 10.50lb was my last one. 

My biggest is 23lb, and I have had a few 20's. More satisfying than a carp of the same weight.

I use a semi barbed treble with a size 6 single up the trace, makes for easy unhooking. I was at a PAC fish-in earlier in the year, one of the  other anglers was amazed that I had unhooked a double figure fish within seconds.

I look at which side the trace is sticking out, turn the fish upside down on the unhooking mat, kneel over it, left hand through the gill, down to the jaw, lift and unhook with forceps or long nose pliers. Easier to see than explain.

 

[mrmud]

2 hours ago, salokcinnodrog said:

My biggest is 23lb, and I have had a few 20's. More satisfying than a carp of the same weight.

I use a semi barbed treble with a size 6 single up the trace, makes for easy unhooking. I was at a PAC fish-in earlier in the year, one of the  other anglers was amazed that I had unhooked a double figure fish within seconds.

I look at which side the trace is sticking out, turn the fish upside down on the unhooking mat, kneel over it, left hand through the gill, down to the jaw, lift and unhook with forceps or long nose pliers. Easier to see than explain.

 

Fair play a 20lb pike is a beast. 

That's the proper way. Putting them upside down keeps them calm doesn't it.

[salokcinnodrog]

7 hours ago, mrmud said:

Fair play a 20lb pike is a beast. 

That's the proper way. Putting them upside down keeps them calm doesn't it.

The kneeling over pic is a 16lb from a few years ago, so easy to deal with them like that. The other pic is the 23lb PB.

 

I've written a few articles over the years for Pikelines, the PAC magazine.

 

[mrmud]

@salokcinnodrog that's more or less a dinosaur lol. If I'm right it takes about 20yrs for a pike to reach that size

[salokcinnodrog]

9 hours ago, mrmud said:

@salokcinnodrog that's more or less a dinosaur lol. If I'm right it takes about 20yrs for a pike to reach that size

I honestly don't know how fast they grow but I think that the growing age is 12-15years old.

Males don't get much above 10lb, and it's the females that get onto bigger weights.

Obviously predation reduces the numbers, pike are the biggest predators of pike!

I've had big pike attack smaller pike I've been playing.

One of the most memorable was a small fish that I hooked and landed 3 times in 3 casts on a spinner on The Broads. I cast out in the next swim, hooked the same fish, and as I was playing it had it hit and taken off the hooks by a big female.

I have also got pics of a double figure pike with a lovely scar on its back from a bigger mouth.

If the food is right, I know that in the lake I'm fishing that a 3lb growth rate is possible as I did pics for someone last year when he had a 20lb fish, he caught it again this year at 23lb.